October 2 2018 – THE POINTS GUY

There has unfortunately been no shortage of tragedies involving pets on airplanes. Between heat, unfamiliar surroundings triggering stress and an inconsistent approach to handling, it’s understandable for pet owners to be anxious when leaning on an airline to get the furriest member of their family from one place to another.

Delta’s taking its responsibility in handling pets seriously, with its cargo arm (Delta Cargo) announcing on Tuesday an exclusive long-term partnership with CarePod. CarePod, a Singapore-based pet technology startup, is enabling Delta Cargo to launch an entirely new pet transportation strategy. CarePod will “help Delta better carry and monitor pets throughout the network, with real-time updates for customers,” which is alongside the recent introduction of “a staff veterinarian to the Delta Cargo team who will review policies and procedures to ensure safe and comfortable pet travel.”

Jenny Pan, Founder & CEO of CarePod. (Photo courtesy of Delta Cargo)

Delta already enlists specially trained ground handlers who are tasked with taking care of pets at every step of their journey, along with temperature-controlled holding areas and vehicles in numerous locations, overnight kenneling services and real-time GPS tracking service for pet shipments. The new Cargo Control Center in Atlanta also gives the airline 24/7/365 visibility into all shipments, including pets. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the above, Delta ranked as the number one airline for pet travel in a reader survey conducted by TPG and Airfarewatchdog.com.

CarePod describes itself as “a full-stack platform that help airlines create additional ancillary revenue and distinct brand differentiation via an end to end customer, pet travel solution.” While details on the product are scant, we do know that the company sells German-engineered “smart” travel pods, along with real-time tracking solutions and cloud-based software. Presumably, that combination of kit will enable Delta to keep tabs on the pets it carries, and more quickly respond to volatile situations before they become headline news.